My desire is to abide

The Lord has been speaking to my heart about the breaking off of this generational curse, this terrible event that took place 100 years ago exactally (Nov. 1909)…there WILL be redemption. Something will happen on this date this year to BREAK off the curse. Amen. Thank you Jesus for writing your story on the hearts of men and women in Cairo. Victory is Yours!

The moral arc bends

The Herald (Australia)

BY JOANNE MCCARTHY

21/01/2009 9:18:00 AM

ONE hundred years ago a black American man, Will James, was lynched in the main street of a town called Cairo, in the state of Illinois, when he was strung up from a telegraph pole beneath street lights in front of thousands.

Fifteen photographs of the lynching became postcards. The atmosphere was described as “circus-like”.

James didn’t die by hanging. The rope broke and he fell to the ground where he was “riddled with bullets”, before his body was dragged for several kilometres and finally burnt.

He wasn’t the only man lynched on November 11, 1909. After the mob killed James it turned on a white man, Henry Salzner, who was awaiting trial for murder. He was lynched, but not shot, mutilated or burnt. His body, hanging from the pole, was also photographed, and the image became a postcard.

In his book about lynching, Without Sanctuary, published in 2000, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Leon F. Litwack noted the men and women who “tortured, dismembered and murdered in this fashion understood perfectly well what they were doing”.

“This was not the outburst of crazed men or uncontrolled barbarians but the triumph of a belief system that defined one people as less human than another,” he said. Nearly 90 per cent of lynching victims were black.

Lynching postcards did a roaring trade until the US postmaster general banned them from the mail system.

In 1909 100 years before a black American man was to become president federal legislators initiated the first of many attempts to make lynching a federal crime, because of the extent of lynching and the failure of states to act.

Typical of state representatives was Benjamin Tillman, governor of South Carolina from 1890-94, who said in 1900: “We have done our level best (to prevent blacks from voting) . . . we have scratched our heads to find out how we could eliminate the last one of them. We stuffed ballot boxes. We shot them. We are not ashamed of it.”

Also Tillman: “We of the South have never recognised the right of the negro to govern white men, and we never will.”

The sound we might hear today even at this distance, over and above the celebrations as Barack Obama is made 44th US president, is of Tillman and his like, turning in their graves, not to mention the angry cries of some who never will recognise “the right of the negro to govern white men”. But they’re a minority. The majority feel jubilation, relief and astonishment.

Cairo, Illinois Barack Obama’s home state is a town with one of America’s worst racial records. Its population is predominantly black. By 2000 it had an infant mortality rate of 15.4 per cent, which was, shockingly, only the state’s second-worst. Industrialised nations have an average infant mortality rate of 6 per cent, according to UNICEF.

About half the town’s children live in poverty and in Cairo “poverty can’t be separated from the issue of race”, said Cairo resident Sarah Gatewood, in an article about its history.

When integration was forced on Cairo in the 1960s and 1970s, city elders filled the local swimming pool with concrete rather than allow black people to use it. When white shopkeepers refused to hire black workers and black residents boycotted stores, shop owners closed rather than change.

There were violent clashes and lynchings, and the white supremacist group White Citizens Council, known as the “white collar Klan”, ruled.

Barack Obama visited Cairo a few years ago while running for the US Senate. He was met by 300 people, one-third black, two-thirds white, wearing “Obama for US Senate” badges, supporting “a black guy born in Hawaii, with a father from Kenya and a mother from Kansas”.

When he returned to Cairo in July 2005, Obama quoted Dr Martin Luther King: “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice” and noted that the arc “bends because each of us in our own small way tries to bend it in that direction”.

Obama’s election is more than an American triumph. It is a human triumph.

It took more than the 100 years between Will James and Barack Obama, but the minority of individuals black and white who showed courage and sought justice for all, became the majority bending the moral arc today.

Shawn Boltz…a passionate man called to minister in Hollywood. Watch out, the Holy Spirit is sending a new wave of power, love, compassion, and revival to the Hollywood scene. Sound unlikely? Why wouldn’t the King of Glory transform one of the most INFLUENTIAL mountains of our society. It’s not too big. He’s too big!

Isaiah 58
“Shout it aloud, do not hold back.
Raise your voice like a trumpet.
Declare to my people their rebellion
and to the house of Jacob their sins.

2 For day after day they seek me out;
they seem eager to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that does what is right
and has not forsaken the commands of its God.
They ask me for just decisions
and seem eager for God to come near them.

3 ‘Why have we fasted,’ they say,
‘and you have not seen it?
Why have we humbled ourselves,
and you have not noticed?’
“Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please
and exploit all your workers.

4 Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife,
and in striking each other with wicked fists.
You cannot fast as you do today
and expect your voice to be heard on high.

5 Is this the kind of fast I have chosen,
only a day for a man to humble himself?
Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed
and for lying on sackcloth and ashes?
Is that what you call a fast,
a day acceptable to the LORD ?

6 “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?

7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe him,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness [a] will go before you,
and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.

9 Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,

10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.

11 The LORD will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.

12 Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins
and will raise up the age-old foundations;
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,
Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.

13 “If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath
and from doing as you please on my holy day,
if you call the Sabbath a delight
and the LORD’s holy day honorable,
and if you honor it by not going your own way
and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,

14 then you will find your joy in the LORD,
and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land
and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.”
The mouth of the LORD has spoken.

Recently God has been teaching me a TON about male/female relationships. I don’t even pretend to know a whole lot. Just check out my history…super inappropriate/unhealthy rel. with boys in high school. In college tried to figure out who I was. Became a Christ follower. Rode the fence for a year before taking the plunge into faith. Since then I have tried to remain pure before the Lord – not only in actions, but thoughts and motives as well. After college I was always really involved with different ministries, had a ton of guy friends, and didn’t really date ever. I kind of had this unspoken “rule” or standard that I wasn’t interested in dating until it was the real deal. You see, I had already messed up so much that I wasn’t about to go giving my heart out only to have it ripped out of my chest and crushed…again. Not blaming anyone, it’s totally a two way thing, but I just knew that I wasn’t about to go messing around anymore. What was the point? Really, I was praying for my husband. I wanted to get to know him and not a bunch of other yahoos. Not that men are yahoos, just saying. Thus began the journey of single hood. Little did I know that little “rule” of mine would be taken seriously by God. No guys even persued me! Ha. At times I thought it was pretty cool, I didn’t even have to worry about it. Other times I thought, “What is WRONG with ME?” Knowing full well I had actually prayed this into being…Lord, I don’t want to date or get involved with anyone unless he is my hubby. It’s okay if you think my ideas or convictions are a bit wack, I’ve heard it all. Really I don’t care, because we all have different opinions on the matter, yes even Christians, especially Christians. So, it’s okay if you are starting to question my ability to reason…I probably think you ideas on the matter are a bit out of sync too, I still love you. We can agree to disagree, eh?

Back to the story. In a way I have felt that I have been “hidden”. Really, since moving to Cairo I have not even had much interaction with men my own age that I would even consider friends. You would have to understand Cairo to hear me on this one. Don’t get me wrong there are some wonderful men in this community too. I am not doggin’ on them. God is truly raising them up and doing a new thing with Fathers and Brothers in this place. When I first moved to town I was appalled at the way men would stare, cat call, say TOTALLY inappropriate things to us out of town women. “Did he just say that out loud?” I mean come on, who were all these white attractive young women coming in from out of town. Again, you must understand that we stick out like crazy – the population is ONLY about 3,000 (the size of my high school) and everyone knows everyone, not many young adults, and not many whites (80% African American and the white population is mostly elderly). We just plain stick out. At first, interacting with the community, the men, I just wanted to punch them. I mean, who do they think they are? I couldn’t believe some of the things they said out loud. Then I remembered that I had to love them. How in the WORLD do you show the love of Christ without being “too nice” and giving them the wrong idea. Seriously, check out this little story…

One of my good friends had just moved to Cairo (this was before I even got here). She is a friendly person and likes meeting new people, esp. in her new community. While at the grocery store she meets this young man (about her age – a bit younger). They begin to chat about Cairo and why she is here (for MISSION WORK). She invites him over to the house, they only live a block away, to meet her roommate and chat about Cairo. I mean, she just moved in, she wants to know more about the place, the people…totally innocent right?!? He gets to the house and after a bit of chatting he seems confused. He honestly thought that she invited him over for some type of weird sexual escapade. WTH?!?! Okay, ladies, does this make any sense? Guys, what were you thinking? Probably NOT THIS! Unless your mind is totally in the gutter, in which case I will pray for you. That’s what I’m dealin’ with here.

Understand this…since we have moved into town (I have been here 3.5 years) things have changed quite a bit. The men look at us a bit differently. We passed the test. Usually some of the men in town are taking bets as to who can sleep with the newbies first, how long it will take to get them into bed…that sort of thing. We of course didn’t fall into this trap and they now respect us…kind of look at us as sisters. I have seen much growth in this area. For them and me. I have learned to be bold in the love of Christ and also in standing up for myself. One time while serving a meal at the Kitchen Table (with the Nuns) I had a guy totally hitting on me and giving me those “I want to sleep with you eyes”. After composing myself, I just told him to quit.

“What?”

“You know what. Stop treating me like that. I am a woman of God, and you are NOT going to talk to me like that. Show repsect in this place.”

He looked at me sobered. I think he was in shock that a white woman would just give it to him like that.

Before he left, I told him the potential he had in Christ and the freedom he could experience from all his addictions. Not sure if he heard that part, but he has respected me since.

Ladies, be bold. Don’t be a beyotch, just be bold and stand up for yourself. Love them with the love of Christ. Pray for them. God will give you wisdom on how to deal/communicate in a SPirit of love and not frustration, hate, or bitterness. Trust me, this has been quite the journey. I’m still on it.

This is getting a bit long, there is much more to share…

Healing
Forgiveness
Redemption
Reconciliation
New Beginnings

I am honestly praying about writing a book on the topic of male/female relationships…singleness…purity…marriage. NOt that there aren’t enough books out there ont his, but I think it is more for my healing process and journey. Cool. Thanks for listening my friends. If you have any questions or comments I am usually open for discussion. Hit me back a comment or email if it is more personal: heathercarn@gmail.com

*Anyone interested in being my editor?

Forgive me for posting that video, I honestly didn’t watch it, just wanted the song on here…yikes!

What a night! Seriously, what just happened?!? I think I am still overwhelmed by the power of God.
Let me try to summarize this story for you.

Tonight I went to Charleston to work out. Get my run on. I am training for a few marathons you know (running, rollerblading, and dancing). That’s another story. On the way to the Health Club I noticed the tire getting really low. Too low in fact to drive back to Cairo. Heather and Jesse had already put the spare on, the original one had a leak in it, and I have not gotten it fixed yet. Shame on me. I meant to do that today in the midst of all the business, but it slipped my mind. Oh, well God had other plans anyway.

I end up saying goodbye to my friend J at the club and heading out the door, knowing full well he was going to see me walking to the truck stop/restarant and stop to get me. You see, I have this rule. I don’t ride in vehicles with men I barely know…espescially in Cairo. Yeah, I am pretty strict about this – there are too many things that could go down, so I just don’t allow it to happen. Even if I feel he is “a nice guy”. It’s okay if you think I am crazy. I’d rather be crazy and safe than something else. So, of course, he sees me walking (really it is like a two block distance, not far) and pulls over.

“Heather, WHAT are you doing?!? WHy didn’t you tell me you had a flat? You know I could help you or give you a ride home!” He is kind of upset, and I can tell he is offended that I didn’t trust him because he prides himself on being a “nice guy.” I have discernment that he really is in fact a “nice guy”, but I have this rule in my mind and I would just rather be smart about stuff. So, in the nicest way possible I explain that I can walk the 100 feet remaining and that if he went to get his pump that would be great.

He comes back to help me pump up the tire and just lays it out, “Heather, I was kind of offended when you wouldn’t get in my vehicle and let me take you to the truck stop. I mean, it is dark out here and those semi trucks go by so fast. It really wasn’t safe.” Understand, this man is about my dad’s age (a bit younger) and single and African American. Nothing wrong with any of those things – I just don’t ride with men from the community period. Don’t matter if they are black or white, it is sketchy. After explaining that I knew he was a nice man with integrity and my rule and that it had nothing to do with him being black, he understood. Quickly, we pumped it up and I headed back to my “Perkins” truck stop to sit down and do some reading. It really didn’t bother me, I have had so many car problems in the past – each time there ends up being divine appointments on the other end, so I just sat and waited for it to unfold.

Reading I did not do…praying, prophesying, testifying, and praising – YES. My good friend’s dad – Pastor Terry was actually hooking it up at the buffet when I came in. We had a nice little chat, sharing testimonies of God’s goodness in provision. As we are talking the other two people at the restaraunt join in our conversation. Pastor Terry then starts directing his focus on B, a female truck driver who is sitting fairly close to me. He just whips out the prophetic words – BAM, straight to her heart. Starts reading her mail. She starts crying and explains her desire to come back to the Lord. She had known the Lord and walked away, now truly desires to come back. We talk a bit more, my phone rings, I catch up with an old high school friend. This friend of mine really wants to go to One Thing, but lacks financial resources. Aparently B (woman at restaraunt – stick with me, it’s coming togehter pretty soon) overheard the convo. Pastor Terry was about to leave, so we said a prayer together regarding some things we chatted about. Before he leaves, B (the female truck driver) hands me a $20 bill and says, “THis is to help your friend pay for the hotel. I wanted to help.”

WHAT?!? Hold the train.

Here is a perfect stranger wanting to help my friend, who she has never met. Crazy! This stuff is crazy, I tell you. Oh, wait, the best part is yet to come!

B starts sharing more about her life…struggles with alcohol, drugs, bad friends, you name it. She believed the Lord had her come to this specific truck stop to have an encounter with him. She is truly repentant and wants to come back into the arms of her Father. So, we start praying for her. Meanwhile, S (woman who works at the truck stop – who actually gave me a ride home 15 min. away) comes over to also pray with us (she had just punched off the clock), along with her friend and another pastor guy who just “happened to be there”. We are all praying over her, the Spirit falls. She is weeping like a baby. I can barely stand because the presence of God is so thick. She starts repenting before the Lord and asking for help and guidance. Pastor Terry starts praising Jesus in tongues. I just can’t even contain it at this time and begin laughing. Not because it was funny, because of the goodness of God!

I tell you what, sometimes I feel like my life is composed of movie scenes. I think, this stuff IS really happening!

The best part is, the Holy SPirit wants to do MORE! Always, there is always more where that came from! After our prayer session, we are all standing in awe of God. Here we are a bunch of “strangers” praying, praising and whooping it up at a truck stop.

It really isn’t surprising to me in a way. God had already spoken to me about this particular place being a place of encounter with the Holy Spirit. A place where lives are redeemed and people have their eyes open to Jesus. Every time I go into this place (which happened a lot more last year) I have divine appointments with people. For some time I have felt lead to ask the manager if I could play my guitar and sing…not for money or a concert, just to shift the spiritual climate.

Worship is warfare.

Worship brings the anointing.

So, my friends, pray for an open door to do that.

I’m out.

Good night.

PS I think I need to start going to this place (Cheers Truck Stop in Charleston, MO) more often. Just on my way out after I work out or to sit and write…whatever, I just need to be available to Him. Praise God for the most “unlikely” of places to become a habitation of His Spirit! I love it!

I am thankful my mom is taking a different approach to Christmas this year. She wants to focus more on the family and less on the preparations, food, presents, commercialism…this is breakthrough! I praise God for what He is doing in my family. I am thankful for each one of them and the journey they are on with the Lord. For some it is very personal and private, for others, shared openly. Either way, I trust the Holy Spirit is working on behalf of my prayers of intercession (for the past ten years) even when I don’t see it or get to be a part of it directly. I trust in Him.

Back to Christmas. I am not sure where we are celebrating this year with my mom’s side, but it doesn’t really matter, as long as we are together. Usually we draw names and purchase a gift for about twenty five bucks, this year my mom wanted to do something else. She wanted us to purchase gifts for each other – IF we wanted to, IF we saw something a person would like. I bless this idea! Truly one of my love languages is gift giving, so this expands my territory in lovin’ on my family. Not that I couldn’t do this before, but I decided to get each of them a gift. Something more personal, something from the heart, something homemade, something from me. I am excited to see where this Christmas will lead our family in future years. I have been praying for new traditions in our family – traditions that don’t center around greed, consumerism, gluttony, Santa…you know, focus back on the Savior, the whole reason we are celebrating in the first place.

A couple summers ago Kristy, Jess and I took a little road trip to South Dakota for a music festival to sell our Kingdom Fuel necklaces. While there we hooked up with some amazing people. Other folks who were selling “christian merchandise”. One really stuck out to me, this young guy about my age designs and sells t-shirts for a living. Really, he has lots of passions, and one of them is mobilizing youth for battle. I’m not talkin’ bout crazy Jihad stuff, I’m talking about the real spiritual battle we face everyday. Most saints don’t even recognize it in the first place, that’s where the enemy catches us off guard. If we don’t even believe we are in a battle, where is the sense of fighting? Check out Ephesians 6 if you are confused about all of this. The battle is NOT against flesh and blood – but against the principalities, the evil forces. Stand firm saints, the road is about to get rockier. Our nation is about to go through some difficult times. BUT, we know the ONE who has already claimed VICTORY over death and the grave. So, have no fear and walk in love as we see tribulations coming (Matthew 24).

Okay, back to this “Live Offensively”. This brother travels a ton ministering to youth – at schools, at music festivals, pretty much wherever the Lord opens a door, he’ll walk right through.

Recently I found the shirt in my closet that he had given me. We traded, some guitar pick necklaces for a shirt. Sounds like a deal to me! I love this shirt because it is pretty bold in your face. I like the shock value. People don’t expect me to wear a shirt that has the word, “porno” on it.

(Every porno has somebody’s daughter in it)

I really want to get a couple shirts about being a Virgin and wear it at the high school here in Cairo when I am volunteering. A couple of the teen girls saw my anti-porno shirt and were wondering about the others that were sold on the website. I told them about the “Virginity Rocks” shirt, and one of the students said, “I want to where that to school!” Coming from a girl who has not committed her life to the Lord, a girl who is saturated with an environment that is completely sex crazed…pretty much a big deal! I told her that if I got permission from the principal (he should have no problem with it) that I would where the shirt on the same day that she wants to where it – making a statement. She said, “We need to have other girls where these shirts, we need to start something!” This was exactally my thought, get a bunch of righteous (only by the blood) students to where these shirts, declaring PURITY in the halls of Cairo High. Warfare baby! Remember, I’m talking about the spiritual warfare, no school violence here – only in the SPIRIT realm.

(I’m loving my husband and I haven’t met him!)

So, I had an idea…find people who want to support the teens in Cairo (remember, they are economically challenged) by purchasing a shirt or two (av. cost is 16 bucks) for them to where to school. Really, it WILL change something in the spirit realm and the natural realm. If you only heard what the boys say to the the girls and how they brag to their boys about you know what. It really makes my heart sad. Just the other day I was subbing and hanging out in the gym with some students. One boy was sitting with six girls and he began to call them “whores, sluts and Bs”. In front of ME, a teacher! What the heck? Seriously, there is a major demonic force at this school. The light of Christ is entering and crushing the enemy. After I told that boy to get out of my face, I calmed down and had a conversation with him about the power of words. He is a leader at the school, he has the power to influence…for good or evil. Once I broke it down to him, I think he understood a little bit more. Pray for him. God wants this one.

(I heart homosexuals)(Jesus has compassion for those who are looking for love in the wrong places)

(it was me)

(check out the website for the writing on the back of the shirt)

If you are interested in supporting this minsitry (purchasing a shirt for a teen to wear), please comment or email me personally at: heathercarn@gmail.com. If 15 people committed to doing this, I believe we would see SIGNIFICANT change!